Egypt's new Transport Minister Kamel El-Wazir and Investment Minister Sahar Nasr discussed on Sunday the financing plans for projects that will be executed to renovate transport sector especially the railways. In a statement released on Sunday, El-Wazir said there is great cooperation between the two ministries to negotiate with the international financing foundations to support the various transport projects, adding that an all-out plan has been devised to upgrade the railway system, the Metro lines as well as other road and maritime transport projects to cope up with international standards. He asserted that the railway is a vital facility that serves millions of passengers, noting that citizens will certainly find solutions and a new shape for the railways by mid 2020. Meanwhile, Nasr said the Ministry of Investment is keen on permanent coordination with the Transport Ministry to set the priorities of the transport sector. She said the wallet of the transport sector projects the Ministry has provided through development partners reached dlrs 4.5 billion, while the grants reached dlrs 153 million. Based on the needs of the Transport Ministry, Nasr said negotiations resulted in allocating around dlrs 2 billion after agreement with development partners to support the transport sector projects in the coming phase. The two ministers also discussed accelerating the implementation of the various projects of the transport sector through finances and grants presented by development partners before 30 June 2020. They both agreed on forming working groups to review the needs of the transport ministry to guarantee a swift implementation of any projects. The most prominent projects of the railway sector is the development of the signal systems on the lines of Beni Suef/Assiut, Assiut/Sohag/Nagaa Hamadi and Cairo/Alexandria, Benha/Zaqaziq/Port Said and the purchase of 100 new locomotives and six trains. Source: MENA
